A Dragon’s Tale

"ETHAN!"

Ethan started awake at the sound of his name being shouted. He was still in the ravine and felt much better, other than being startled awake. It was before sunrise, though it was definitely quite bright. Nearby, Taloni seemed to have been startled awake also. He looked around for the source of the voice and his jaw dropped.

Alana was nearly finished climbing down a rope ladder that was attached to the Argo. She had found him? How had she found him?

Why had she found him?

"Ethan!" Alana said as she dropped the last few feet to land at the bottom of the ravine a mere twenty feet from him.

She was furious.

Her cheeks were red, her hands were curled up into fists, and you could probably boil an egg on her forehead. Her hair looked slightly wild and there was a primal intensity about her that he had only seen once before: when she yelled at Drousin. Alana marched right up to him and poked him hard in the chest.

"You owe me an explanation." She hissed, her face a mask of barely controlled fury.

"Well, I wanted--" Ethan started to say, but was interrupted by Alana slapping him across the face.

"That's for leaving." Alana said.

She stared pure murder at him for several seconds, then threw her arms around him and gave him the best -- and tightest -- hug of his life. After several seconds, she snuggled closer and gave him a little extra squeeze.

"I was so worried about you." She said, and her voice cracked a little bit. Ethan thought he heard a sniffle and possibly smelled some tears.

"I'm okay." He said.

Instantly, Alana broke their hug and slapped him across the face again. Hard.

"Ow! What was that--" he started to say, but the irate wood elf cut him off.

"Oh no you don't." She said, and her voice was shaking. "You don't talk, you listen. Got it?"

He nodded.

"What in Illuminar's name gives you the right to treat me so disrespectfully?!" She half shouted.

"What?" Ethan was confused. "I didn't--"

"Oh yes you did." She cut him off again. "You left because you were worried about my safety if I stayed around you, right?"

"Well, yeah, I--" Ethan started to say.

Alana slapped him again. He beat a hasty retreat, but she didn't give up that easily.

"Am I some child that you can treat that way?!" She half shouted again. "Am I so incapable of making my own decisions that I need you to make them for me?!"

"I just thought--" He started to say.

"No, you didn't." Her voice got quiet; deadly. "You didn't give one second's consideration to what I wanted. You decided that you knew what was best for me and made the decision for me unilaterally without even talking to me. You didn't even ask me what I wanted, and when I tried to say, you literally jumped out of a window to avoid me."

Ethan hung his head.

"Is your opinion of me so low that you think I can't make decisions for myself?" She asked in that same quiet and deadly tone.

"No."

"What gives you the right to run my life?" Alana asked. "What gives you the right to decide who I spend time with and who I should avoid?!"

Ethan opened his mouth, but closed it again. He didn't know what to say.

"I'm a grown woman." Alana said, and she was back to half shouting. "I can take care of myself and you're not my husband so you have zero right to make my decisions for me. If I decide to march right into Lord Delmar's castle and turn myself in, I can. There's not a damn thing you can do about it."

He opened his mouth to protest, but Alana didn't let him get a word out.

"No, you can't." Alana said. "It's my life and I'll spend it how I choose. If you don't want to be around me because you don't like me, that's your decision. But don't you dare--" She poked him in the chest again. "--don't you ever dare even think of deciding who I will or won't spend my life with."

"Okay." He said as he looked her in the eye. Damn if she wasn't beautiful when she was angry.

"I know being around you comes with risks." She said more softly. "But I decided to take those risks. That was my decision. That's what I chose; it's what I choose."

Ethan nodded.

"I can put up with the danger, the running, and the heartbreak, but I cannot -- and I will not -- put up with you treating me like a child. Are we clear?"

"I'm sorry Alana." He nodded again. "You're right. I didn't realize what I was doing and I didn't mean to treat you that way. I promise in the future I'll do better. Will you please forgive me?"

"Of course I will, you idiot." Alana said, then her face softened. "I meant it when I said I love you. I'll always forgive you."

"Thank you."

Alana smiled, walked up to him and put her face close enough that he couldn't look away without being rude.

"You're welcome." She said, then wrapped him in another hug.

He had missed her.

God, he had missed her.

Having her there next to him again felt like all was right with the world. He breathed in her scent and it smelled heavenly to him. She smelled like the forest after a spring rain mixed with a hint of lilac. He was absolutely convinced that there wasn't a more perfect woman for him in the whole universe,

The moment of perfect, incandescent happiness was interrupted when Ethan noticed Taloni standing there with her mouth agape.

"Um." Ethan cleared his throat. "You should probably meet someone."

"Who?" Alana asked, then didn't so much pull out of the hug as roll to the side with her arms still around him so she could see.

"This is Taloni." Ethan indicated the diminutive Fey. "She saved my life."

Alana dropped her arms from around Ethan and swept Taloni up in a huge hug, which was funny to see because the Fey was actually two inches taller than the tiny wood elf.

"Thank you." Alana said. Taloni looked unsure of herself, but awkwardly returned Alana's hug anyway. Despite her awkwardness, the Fey looked pleased with the genuine affection from the wood elf.

Ethan took a deep breath. "Um, you should probably know how she saved my life too."

"Oh?" Alana ended the hug and eyed him suspiciously.

Ethan told her about leaving and getting attacked by the other dragon who was nearly twice his size. He then told her he was forced to give up the gold in his gullet.

"Wait, you survived four days without gold?'' Alana asked. "But you seem fine now... Which means you had..." Alana looked at Ethan, then Taloni with realization dawning on her face. "Oh no, you didn't."

"In my defense, I was unconscious at the time." He replied.

"Dragon shit." Alana said, though she sounded much calmer that Ethan expected. "There's no possible way you could bond while unconscious."

"Um." Taloni said.

"Yes?" Alana turned to her.

The Fey said something, but she was so quiet that he didn't hear what it was. Her shoulders were hunched over and she was looking at the ground. She seemed like she was trying to look as small as possible.

"You need to speak up." Alana said

"He was unconscious." Taloni said.

Alana looked back and forth between them several times. "You're kidding me."

Ethan shook his head.

"You bonded with someone in your sleep?" Her jaw dropped. Ethan opened his mouth to reply, but Taloni beat him to it.

"He was dying." The Fey girl said. "He was so depleted of deep mana that he lost consciousness. I couldn't just let him die."

Alana sighed, then looked at Ethan with a dopey grin. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean."

Alana looked at Ethan, then tapped the side of her head with her finger. Ethan concentrated on the fortress he'd erected inside his mind, imagined a small door for Alana's voice to get it, then gave her a subtle nod.

*Why in Illuminar's name aren't I getting mad about this?* Alana asked telepathically.

*Come again? You sounded pretty mad.* Ethan replied.

*You bonded with another woman, and I'm a little upset but....* Alana replied. *It should make me furious. I hated it when you bonded with Beth, but for some reason it just doesn't bother me anymore.*

*It doesn't?* he cocked his head to the side.

Alana shook her head. *I don't exactly love it, but I'm not mad. My head isn't a fan, but my heart doesn't seem to mind.*

He just stared at her.

*I'm serious.* Alana said telepathically. *It felt horrible after you married Beth, but now...*

Alana looked at Taloni. Ethan wasn't sure, but he thought he felt a tiny hint of arousal coming from the wood elf.

*I just felt something really strange over our bond...* he said telepathically.

Alana went slightly pink. *I'm not attracted to her and I have no interest in women if that's what you thought. It's just...*

*Just what?* Ethan asked.

Alana's cheek got even redder. *I'd rather not talk about it.*

"Please say something." Taloni asked.

Alana turned to Taloni and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you so much for saving him. I'm in your debt."

It was slightly odd to see the smaller Alana comfort Taloni who was a couple of inches taller. Neither of them were very large of course, but the contrast was funny.

Ethan breathed a huge sigh of relief.

*What?* Alana asked telepathically.

*I thought you were going to be furious about me bonding with her.*

Alana looked at Taloni and smiled. *I can't be. She saved your life, and anyone who'd share their deep mana with someone they just met to save their life can't be that bad.*

"So, I guess you'll be leaving soon?" Taloni asked. She kept glancing up at the airship.

"Not yet." Ethan replied. "I have a Fey to rescue first."

Taloni looked confused.

"You saved my life." Ethan said. "The least I could do is free you."

Taloni's big eyes got even larger. "You can't be serious?"

Ethan looked at Alana and raised his eyebrows, or what would've been an eyebrow if he was still human.

Alana sighed, then nodded. "Of course we're serious. We take care of our friends."

Taloni looked dumbstruck. Her mouth fell open and she gaped at them. She looked at him, then her, then back at him. Her mouth moved soundlessly, as though she wanted to speak but couldn't get the words out. Then she looked up.

"Is that your airship?" She asked.

"Pretty much." Ethan replied. Though technically it belongs to Beth's father, and he wasn't sure how Lord Borden would react when he found out his daughter was dead.

"Can I go on it?" Taloni asked.

"Absolutely." Ethan replied.

Taloni looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

* * *

Rachel couldn't help but smile as she watched Taloni practically prance around the Argo. Her enthusiasm was palpable, and her knowledge of airships was quite impressive considering she'd never been on one before. She knew the name and function of every rope, sail, and control on the entire ship.

"How'd she learn so much about airships?" Rachel asked Ethan after she had welcomed him back.

"She works with a bunch of miners and I think some of them used to work on airships." He replied. "It's pretty impressive what she knows."

Rachel nodded. "That might be a very useful skill soon."

"Why?"

"I've had almost a week to consider the implications of Beth's death." Rachel replied. "I'm pretty sure Lord Borden will want his airship back."

"Yeah, I can see that." Ethan looked around the ship and his eyes settled on Alana. "I just hope that's all he wants."

"I don't think he'll want revenge if that's what you're thinking." Rachel said. "But I wouldn't consider him an ally anymore."

Ethan hung his head. "It's hard to blame him."

Rachel grimaced. He needed to be snapped out of this and she didn't think Alana was the one to do it. Alana was too good; she couldn't really understand Ethan's feelings about this. Her on the other hand...

"Ethan." Rachel said after taking a deep breath. "Do you want it straight or sugar-coated?"

"Straight." He replied, without looking at her.

Rachel took another deep breath before speaking. "You losing control to your dragon instincts probably caused Beth's death. But that doesn't mean you need to blame yourself. No one else does."

"I don't think Lord Borden would see it that way." He seemed somehow smaller -- like he was trying to fade into the woodwork.

"It doesn't matter how Lord Borden sees it." Rachel replied. "You made a mistake Ethan; mistakes are part of life. Everyone makes them. What matters is what you do afterward."

"Most people don't get their wife killed,"

"Ethan, I kidnapped your wife and tried to kill you and Alana several times." Rachel said to finish laying her verbal trap. "Do you blame me for that?"

"Of course not." Ethan replied. "It was because of the will-breaker ring. You didn't want to do any of those things."

"Did you want to kill Beth?"

"Of course not. I wanted to save her, I just couldn't."

"So, you're saying that a magical influence -- your dragon instincts -- made you do something you didn't want to do." Rachel said. "In fact, you wanted to do the opposite but couldn't because of a magical influence. Does that sound about right?"

"Yeah, I--" he stopped, and finally looked her in the eye. "You're a wise woman you know that?"

"Illuminar's Book of Light tells us to be shrewd as snakes and pure as doves." Rachel replied. "I never put much stock in it, but there's some good stuff in there."

He nodded.

"Feel better?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, I do." He replied, and he looked like it. "It just feels like I cause an awful lot of harm."

"You rescued Alana on your first day here." Rachel replied without hesitation. "She'd be dragon food if you hadn't intervened."

"And then I destroyed her home and livelihood." He countered. "Kind of evens things up a bit."

"You freed Hailey and me. I was about to spend my entire life as a slave to someone else's will and a blind man could see Hailey's owner was abusive."

"True, she doesn't seem that happy though." He glanced over to where Hailey was pacing; every few minutes she would throw a murderous glance in the direction of Arcanum.

"You noticed that too huh." Rachel said. "She seems happy to be free, but she's clearly not happy at all."

"She tries to hide it though." He observed.

She nodded. "Most people do."

They stood there leaning up against the railing of the Argo for several minutes in silence. It wasn't exactly an uncomfortable silence, but neither was it comfortable either.

"Doing the right thing occasionally backfires." Rachel finally said. "Does that mean you should stop trying?"

Ethan shook his head. "It doesn't make it easier when it does backfire though."

"No, it doesn't." Rachel agreed. "Life is hard."

"And then you die."

"That sounds kind of bleak." Rachel replied. "Is that really how you feel about life?"

"I don't know." Ethan's gaze lingered on where Alana was talking with Taloni and a smile crept onto his face. "Sometimes... sometimes it's not bad at all."

"Speaking of, I hear you're bonded to two women; again."

Ethan groaned, "Don't remind me. It was bad enough the first time, I don't want to put Alana through that again."

"You bonded to three women in less than two months." Rachel observed. "That must be some kind of a record."

"You know what the sad thing is?" Ethan said. "I know dozens of men back home who would jump at the chance to be married -- or bonded -- to a bunch of women."

"And that doesn't appeal to you?" Rachel raised her eyebrow.

"Of course it appeals to certain parts of me." Ethan replied. "But overall, not really. I always wanted to get married, but I was thinking more of a 'one woman for life' kind of deal. I could barely handle my fiancée -- ex-fiancée -- and myself, how in the world could I take care of another woman?"

Rachel nodded and suppressed a smile. Ethan was truly a unique man. She had known many men who would jump at the chance to bed multiple women; nearly every man she'd met her whole life in fact.

"You think it would be too hard?" Rachel asked for clarification.

"No-- well that too." Ethan replied, then ran his hand over his head and onto his horns. It looked like a human running their hand through their hair. "I'm not sure I can take care of more than one woman. I mean, I want to give all of myself to one person, not split my attention between them. That's just not fair to them."

"You are a unique man Ethan,"

"I'm just trying to do the best thing for them."

"That's precisely what makes you unique." Rachel repeated. "You are more concerned with the well-being of the women in your care than how many you can take to bed. I... I can't even explain how rare that is."

Despite herself, Rachel felt a slight flutter in her heart.

She took a deep breath and shut that part of herself down instantly. There was zero sense in nurturing those thoughts, and even less sense in allowing them to develop into feelings. Yes, he was the best man she had ever met, and he cared deeply about his friends, and he had a certain animal magnetism, but his heart clearly lay elsewhere. She had no interest in bonding with him and no interest in joining a harem.

She put it out of her mind.

"What are you going to do?" she finally asked.

"Taloni made a pretty compelling case that bonding is just as intimate and binding as marriage vows. Maybe if I had made an honest woman out of Alana, Beth would still be alive right now."

Rachel cocked her head to one side. "You think Alana is dishonest?"

"Oh, sorry." Ethan said. "It's slang where I come from. It means to marry someone."

"Your world seems like an interesting place."

"Yeah, something like that."

"I guess congratulations are in order then." Rachel said with a grin.

"Maybe." He grimaced. "But then there's Taloni to consider and I'm just not sure what to do."

Rachel nodded and looked over the side of the Argo to the small stream below. About a hundred yards downstream, it split into two smaller streams. Looking at them, Rachel was reminded of something her father always used to say.

"When two roads diverge -- and neither is appealing -- forge your own path." She recited.

"Huh?"

"It's something my father used to say." Rachel explained. "Oftentimes in life we are presented with a choice to do one thing or another, yet there's a third or fourth option hidden somewhere. My father always used to say there's a way out of every situation; you just have to work hard enough to find it."

"Despite the fact that he's dead set on killing me, he sounds like a wise man... Like his daughter"

Rachel blushed slightly before chuckling at the irony. "Thank you, and he was wise. I just wonder..."

"Wonder what?" Ethan asked.

"What happened?" Rachel said, and she started subconsciously feeling the finger her will-breaker ring had been on. "I told you before it was like growing up with two completely different fathers who shared the same body."

"You have a theory?"

"Maybe... I don't know." Rachel glanced over at the quarterdeck. "We should probably get Taloni back to her mine and see about securing her release. Slave owners tend to get upset when slaves go missing."

Ethan looked at her curiously, but thankfully didn't ask about her theory. It seemed so farfetched; impossible even. But it was the only explanation she could think of. She shook her head and put it out of her mind.

Right now, they had a Fey to free.

* * *

Ethan felt his jaw drop. "You can't be serious?"

He could feel the shock from Alana through their bond and was positive it was mirrored on Rachel's face and his disguise gem's form as well.

Thaltien crossed his arms and glanced at Taloni. "That little Fey saves me a lot of coin by keeping my miners patched up. With her gone, I'd need to hire a healer from Arcanum and they don't come cheap. With that damn dragon gone, I'll stop losing men and gold in transport, which will more than make up the difference."

"But it's suicide." Ethan countered.

"That's your problem." Thaltien shrugged. "I like Taloni well enough and know she'd probably give her left wing to live on an airship, that's the only reason I'm even considering selling her."

Ethan bristled at the casual way Thaltien talked about selling Taloni. He had the strangest urge to bite the man's head off -- literally -- for treating his mate that way.

Wait, his mate?

Where did that come from?

He glanced around the mining camp to clear his mind. The camp was a series of flimsy shacks and large tents clustered around a single large, well-constructed building. The overall appearance reminded Ethan of a shanty town, only not as dilapidated or dirty. On the outskirts, a large windmill was spinning gently in the breeze.

Several horses were tied to posts near the large building, which was guarded by men in armor. Beyond the large building was the mine entrance. It looked like it had started as a natural cave of some kind. It was large, nearly big enough for Ethan to stretch a wing across the entrance.

A hundred yards away from the camp, the Argo was floating with its lower mast just above the treetops.

"That's my offer; take it or leave it." Thaltien said. "Either way, I have work to do." With that, he turned and walked back into the large building.

Ethan turned around to look at Alana, Taloni, and Rachel. "Thoughts?"

Taloni looked crestfallen. "It's okay, thank you for trying." The corners of her eyes looked watery and she was blinking a lot.

"We haven't tried anything yet." Ethan said.

"But you can't." Taloni said. "That dragon has already beaten you once and left you for dead."

"He got the drop on me and I was alone." Ethan said. "Maybe we could beat him if we attacked together and had the element of surprise."

Rachel grimaced, "I want to help, but let's not be too optimistic. From what I hear, he's twice your size."

"The bigger they are..." Ethan said. Everyone looked at him blankly so he finished it. "The harder they fall; it's a saying from my world. Come on, there must be a way to kill a dragon that's twice my size. I know he beat me before, but there must be a way."

"Maybe..." Rachel said, but didn't sound very sure.

"It's okay, really." Taloni said, her feigned smile not quite reaching her eyes. "I appreciate you wanting to help, but there's no sense in you getting killed for me."

"Except I won't get killed." Ethan replied, then turned to Alana. "You haven't said much, time to weigh in."

Alana looked deep in thought and kept glancing between Taloni and Ethan. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again.

*What are you thinking?* Ethan asked telepathically.

*Taloni is a great girl and we'd be lucky to have her on the Argo.* She said.

*But?*

*I don't see how you can kill a dragon twice your size.* Alana replied. *I don't want you to die trying.* She looked around at their small group. *I don't want anyone to die trying.*

*Me either.* Ethan frowned, then looked at Taloni. She had done so much for him. She had saved his life, healed his wounds, and she had barely known him at the time. He had promised to help free her, and he just couldn't bear the thought of disappointing her.

His choice seemed to be between certain death and crushing Taloni's dream of being free. He couldn't do that to her; not after everything she'd done for him. On the other hand, he couldn't knowingly lead the crew of the Argo to their deaths either.

It seemed hopeless until Ethan remembered something.

Something that he and the crew of the Argo had literally shoveled shit to get. Something that could make all the difference in the world. Something that was nearly complete on the Argo right now.

Something they could use to fight.

Something they could use to win.

Gunpowder.

(End of chapter 9)

Note: This chapter began on day 44 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms and ended on day 46.